Fresh from the main stage in Byron Bay, British rockers Catfish and the Bottlemen will headline Wollongong’s first Splendour in the Grass sideshow on Tuesday night.
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The show, at Wollongong Unibar, comes off the back of a whirlwind couple of months for the quartet, which have included a US and South American tour, huge festivals in Spain, Ireland and Scotland and stadium gigs across England.
Over the weekend, they played a Friday show in Melbourne, then hit Splendour on Saturday and Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on Sunday.
Despite this crazy schedule, and another upcoming US tour with Green Day starting on August 1, playing a regional gig in Wollongong – a coup for the city’s reinvigorated live music scene – will be no comedown for lead singer Van McCann .
“To be honest, it’s a big deal for us too because this is our second headline tour out here, we’ve never really played much out here on our own before,” he said.
“Melbourne went off, Sydney went off and the difference about this show is that it’s a little bit smaller so it’s a completely different kind of gig – it’s those kind of gigs that we grew up playing.
“I’m looking forward to getting nice and sweaty, getting all the room going crazy and bumping into each other on stage and stuff like we used to.”
The band – touted for their classic British rock sounds – formed in the small Welsh coastal town of Llandudno ten years ago, but have hit the big time in the past few years.
Last year, a couple of before the release of their second album which has since sold more than 100,000 copies in the UK, the band won British Breakthrough Act at the Brit Awards.
Asked what’s in store next after arguably the biggest year in their career, McCann says whatever it is will be “even bigger”.
“These shows we’re doing now are the same size shows we dreamt of playing when we first started writing songs and being in a band together,” he said.
“But we’re nowhere near where we want to be yet. I’ve got my third album in my back pocket, I’ve got my fourth one with stuff left over from this one.”
Joining Catfish and the Bottlemen at the Wollongong Splendour sideshow – organised by Illawarra music promoters Yours and Owls – will be British-born LA-based singer-songwriter Bishop Briggs.
Local acts, northern suburbs singer songwriter Bec Sandridge and Kiama band The Vanns will fill out the bill.
- Catfish and the Bottlemen, July 25, Wollongong Uni Hall. Tickets $63.90, Moshtix.